Tuesday, November 11, 2008

'dem bones, 'dem bones, 'dem DRY bones....

My focus as of late has been on hurricane ike and the so called recovery process. Thank the Lord, I'm able to be in my home, sleep in my bed ( :) ) and type on my own computer. For that I am blessed. Never would I have understood the extent of pain others are going through except I see it happening to my brother and sister in law. The pain of losing everything is unbelievable but that's only the beginning of the horror.

Its been 2 months now and no possibility of an end in sight. They have moved from hotel to hotel, some very nice, some adequate. The story is long and discouraging. Help comes with a "forked-tongue". True one day, false the next. What I want to tell you today is one of the realities of this type of natural disaster.

One day last week I went with Ted and Brenda to "view the remains" At this day, almost two months later the roads are almost passable. Rollover Pass bridge has been made into a one way bridge with a signal light. Washed out areas of the road have been temporarily patched. Debris is everywhere. Plastic bags hang from the
light poles. Those little suckers really hang in there!!!

Ted and Brenda's place is swept clean... kinda, with a heavy cover of sand. There's a huge pond where the house used to be with their car and lawn mower in the pond. There's also one window frame, no glass, left hanging where the storage shed used to be. We took pictures, Ted walked out to the edge of the property toward the beach.
Brenda and I started wandering toward the road. Rains since Ike have started bringing little 'treasures' to the surface. We found a few dishes but they weren't Brenda's. Toward the edge of the road, Brenda told me to look. It was a bone, partly buried in the sand. She moved it around with her foot and we discussed what KIND of bone it might be. We called Ted over and he said it looked like a "femar". I kept thinking, no its got to be a cow or horse or very large dog... you know, I'm really smart that way :) We took photos and put it in the van.

That bone/person rode around with us in the van for a couple of days !!!! Long story about how it got turned in but we have had a part of a human hanging out with us, being in the car while we DRANK COKES OVER IT, talked, chatted and "fairly recently" dead !!!!!! Its now in the care of the Galveston County Medical Examiner's office and hopefully will someday be reunited with family. Remember the old song we used to sing... Dem bones, dem bones, dem...dry bones. Ezekiel's bones.

Next chapter
After learning about the bone we started thinking about something else we found that was strange. There was a piece of broken siding laying face down in the sand with
things under it. I could see there was writing, like spray painting. Ted turned it over for it and it said "H e l p" sprayed on that strip. NOW, since finding that bone, that's real. Who wrote that sign? What happened that night? What's the rest of that story???

Saturday, September 20, 2008

Ike will live on forever!


This is the view on Ted and Brenda's beach property since Ike came to visit. Where a cozy beach house used to set there has now been created a little scenic pond readily equipped with mobile transportation. If you could only see past the transportation you could view the equipment that used to be helpful in maintaining the beautiful landscape. They are anxiously awaiting the time that they will be able to dig through the shifted sands that have been newly deposited on their beach front property! (Previously, it was one street back ) Who knows what trinkets will be unearthed... possibly something of their own!
We have come to know more about weather forecasts than we ever possibly wanted to know. Evacuation has become normal. Running a generator isn't a rare instance. MRE's are FUN. Toliets are priceless!!! What a sad thing when people know how to run the system after an event. What did we do after Carla or Camille. There was no FEMA then. Did we have to take care of ourselves???? Who took care of them? Just wondering.
Here's a little Hurricane Humor
Don't know who wrote this but its funny!!!
Here are ten reasons why having a hurricane is like having Christmas. Enjoy!
Number Ten: Decorating the house (with plywood).
Number Nine: Dragging out boxes that haven't been used since last season.
Number Eight: Last minute shopping in crowded stores.
Number Seven: Regular TV shows pre-empted for 'Specials'.
Number Six: Family coming to stay with you.
Number Five: Family and friends from out-of-state calling you.
Number Four: Buying food you don't normally buy . . . and in large quantities.
Number Three: Days off from work.
Number Two: Candles.
And the Number One reason Hurricane Season is like Christmas:
At some point you're probably going to have a tree in your house!

Friday, September 12, 2008

Storms

For the second time in less than a month we are dealing with a storm. This one threathens to be a whopper. Ted and Brenda took this photo yesterday in Gulf Shores. This is part of Ike as far west as Florida. Amazing

Brenda got word from the Galveston County Sheriff's department that there is already 5 ft of water across the main road leading to the ferry in Galveston. Doesn't look good for their beach house. So many of our friends have decided to ride it out.

Tuesday, September 9, 2008

Most Dangerous Chocolate Cake Recipe

5 MINUTE CHOCOLATE MUG CAKE

1 Coffee Mug

4 tablespoons flour (that's plain flour, not self-rising)
4 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons baking cocoa
1 egg
3 tablespoons milk
3 tablespoons oil
3 tablespoons chocolate chips (optional)
Small splash of vanilla

Add dry ingredients to mug, and mix well. Add the egg and mix thoroughly.Pour in the milk and oil and mix well.Add the chocolate chips (if using) and vanilla, and mix again.Put your mug in the microwave and cook for 3 minutes at 1000 watts. The cake will rise over the top of the mug, but don't be alarmed!

Allow to cool a little, and tip out onto a plate if desired. EAT! (this can serve 2 if you want to share!) And why is this the most dangerous cake recipe in the world? Because now we are all only 5 minutes away from chocolate cake at any time of the day or night!

Funny Trint

The good nephew, Trint
“The Show with Ze Frank”Ze’s New VlogMy First Attempt at Vlogging
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